Grandmothers: A Learning Institution - Basic Education and Policy ...

“A grandmother’s understandingof Indian identityis an invaluable perspectivethat she is ableto pass on to her grandchildren.Grandmothersas-culture-transmittermay be one of the mostsignificant contributionsto the perpetuation ofthe Indian community.”M.M. SchweitzerAmerican IndianGrandmothers:Traditionsand Transitionsily systems, including the social hierarchywithin families associated with age andexperience that dictates individualbehavior to a great extent.Along with the absence of adequateassessment of the components anddynamics of family systems in differentsocio-cultural contexts, there is a tendencyto erroneously project onto nonwesternsocieties western concepts ofnuclear families, and of autonomouswomen and couples who operate independentlyof family systems. This orientation/tendencyis seen in education programsthat involve only “parents,” definedas children’s mothers and fathers, andchild health programs that narrowlyfocus on women of reproductive age oron the mother-child dyad. Limited focushas been directed at understanding theroles of and including other non-parentalfamily and community actors in childdevelopment strategies. In almost allcases, in child development programs,both at the initial assessment phase andin the design of community-orientedstrategies, senior household and communitymembers, including grandparents,are excluded.Anthropologist Margaret Mead (1970)was among the first social scientists topoint out the critical role played bygrandparents in transmitting from onegeneration to the next the “model” ofhow things should be done in life, includinghow children should be nurtured andtaught how to survive in each society.Similarly communicologist, AndreasFuglesang (1982) discussed the multifacetedrole that grandmothers play inthe socialization process of the youngergenerations and asserted that grandmothersconstitute a veritable “learninginstitution” in the community.Professor Scarlett Epstein, from theInstitute of Development Studies at theUniversity of Sussex, has pointed out thecritical role played by grandmothers ininculcating in children the moral, social,and cultural norms that determine individualbehavior later in life (Epstein 1993,2003). She states that in most developingcountry settings, grandmothers’ influenceis great, given that they live close totheir offspring and are respected bythem. Grandmothers provide ongoing“informal training” both to their childrenand grandchildren. Epstein has been anoutspoken advocate of the need fordevelopment activities related to childrenand women’s health and developmentto acknowledge and build on therole of grandmothers.In the so-called “developed” world, thereis a tendency for grandparents to bemuch less involved in the socializationand care of grandchildren than was historicallythe case. Nevertheless, in allcultures, grandparents continue to beinvolved and to influence, to a greater orlesser extent, the lives and developmentof the younger generations. Recentefforts to promote intergenerationallearning in western countries, for exampleby involving elders in school programs,is a sign of the recognition of thecontribution grandparents can make tothe development of the youngest membersof society. In most parts of Africa,Asia, Latin America, and The Pacific,4 UNITED STATES AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT